Another form of extermination employed was asphyxiation by lethal gasses in enclosed trucks or vans. Here again the victims were induced to enter these death machines by the promise that they would be transported to other areas for resettlement. As the van left the loading area, it was filled with deadly fumes. A few minutes later, when the van reached the disposal point, the corpses were unloaded into prepared excavations, which became unmarked, mass graves. These, then, were the usual methods used by the Einsatzgruppen.
Another form of extermination employed was asphyxiation by lethal gasses in enclosed trucks or vans. Here again the victims were induced to enter these death machines by the promise that they would be transported to other areas for resettlement. As the van left the loading area, it was filled with deadly fumes. A few minutes later, when the van reached the disposal point, the corpses were unloaded into prepared excavations, which became unmarked, mass graves. These, then, were the usual methods used by the Einsatzgruppen.
Nuremberg, Germany
September 29, 1947
[English, 0:46]
After the trial of major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, the United States held a series of other war crimes trials at Nuremberg during the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings.The ninth trial of these proceedings, before an American military tribunal, focused on members of the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) who had been assigned to kill Jews and other people behind the eastern front. This footage shows US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor for the United States in the Nuremberg trials, opening the case by describing the Einsatzgruppen's use of gas vans to kill Jews and others during the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
— National Archives - Film
"Final Solution": Overview »
Final Solution (Abridged Article) »
Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings (Abridged Article) »
Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings, Case #9, The Einsatzgruppen Case »
